The CONCLUSION of Short Circuits ONE

A new blog has been born at www.jamescartee.com thanks to Nate Johnson with Level2Design.

This will officially serve as the last entry of this blog….the blog will be archived for book purposes of some type in the future.

I look back over the last two years since I graduated from Auburn University with my Masters, and to say the least, I have had a rude awakening to the real world. I thought for some reason the world would automatically accept me as the new young professionals’ leader of America. Perhaps they still should :)

Sometimes you have to make a speed bump for others to stop and notice what it is that they ran over.

In my own naivety, I have learned that you must work almost twice or three times as hard to make a real dream come true, such as becoming a locally known photographer, a nationally known author, and an inspirational speaker. You must realize that a step today in a job, task, or class you do not like serves as a step towards the dream you have wanted to chase the last two years of your life, even if ten years from now you reach where you want to be. Perhaps it was worth that ten years of work often doing things you did not enjoy.

I have also learned recently that the stress of quitting something you that do not like, not having the fruits of that labor, may create more stress in life than simply dealing with the stress you have every day simply by staying with where you are. For those of you I have not spoken to in a long time, I have not made any stupid decisions, at least not just yet : )

I have almost completed my first full manuscript of my BIG book. There have been some ups and downs in the last two years of whether this is something I should continue to pursue, but if the task and endeavor have been on my heart so long, it probably is a sign to follow through on the task.  

I am not sure if adversity in life ever ends, even if in small amounts. There is always a daily something we must deal with. It is easy to become discouraged. It is extremely hard to stay motivated when so much in this world seems to expose different levels of negativity. I am trying to keep my head up even though I often feel down because I am not exactly where I would like to be.

You may not want to be where you want to be right now, but the important thing is that you not lose sight of the vision you often revisit in the rare silence you experience at different moments, for instance driving by yourself with the radio off or lying awake at night staring at the ceiling.

Since the beginning of this blog, I have traveled and cataloged memories from all over the world. I hope you have enjoyed my own self-titled memoir in the thoughts shared in this blog.

My thanks goes out to the thousands who have read this blog – Thank you for clicking. And over the last several years, thank you for reading!

With more to come at www.jamescartee.com, this is James Louie Cartee the Third!

The Queen Lives

So originally this picture has nothing to do with Johnnie Edwards, the poem, or the conference, but nevertheless, it is hilarious!

The Queen Lives

My brain wonders through the photographs of time investigating those who have never been mine.

So close I have often been but yet so far away simultaneously.

I pressed on until my mind no longer without motivation could pursue.

I was down and out in the shadows of my inexperienced self-doubt

When a Floridian ladybug never flew to share the lily of my own picking.

An epiphany led me astray as I pursued her with a sign from heaven.

Given a slavery assignment, my joy was sucked into the everyday spiral of survival as it remains.

Smiles were far fewer than they were numerous –

A new lead was assigned to guide whose love spread over the poison of tumultuous times.

Mentally I was lost. Depressively I was down.

And then The Queen, my second mother came to town.

Thunder and Lightning struck with newfound strides of loud laughs echoing.

Slowly one step at a time I found my Savior sitting silently by my side.

In prayer I heard, “I sent your second mother to secure what you could not see in your own self-reflection.”

A reminder to ask, believe, and achieve the impossible challenged the reminder of my faith.

Stuck in the routine of wakeup survival, I loathe every step and every move,

But The Queen will not let me fall, fail, or even falter.

While she entered my life with a new kidney, her joy near death still glorified God.

Her illumination matched laugh for laugh full of life in the midst of recovery.

Down and out with punches to my spiritual gut, she encouraged me to pick myself back up.

She offered her garage as a second refuge, but we all know she would take me in without due payment.

I am after all just that awesome!

Emergencies arise as we both become saved in a crucifixion as payment to the punishment of sin.

When I am bored in the monotony of phone call after phone call marketing, she smiles and smiles without pause.

The contagious of good thoughts come from sincere smiles and loud laughs heard throughout the office.

While around The Queen, I believe that good will happen instead of bad.

I focus on the present in the moment of now with no future worries.

I seek Christ within me that she constantly reminds me to see.

The Queen divinely assigned to Cartee influences eternal elements unseen to the observant eye.

Viewing in front of my everyday sight, a reflection of Christ sits in a mirror

As a constant reminder of His Grace and Love where believers should have nothing to fear.

JLC iii, 2/4/12

A Singles Conference Worth Your Attention

I wrote the last entry about Johnnie Edwards, a friend of mine who has had a positive spiritual impact on my life in the last six months since I had the pleasure of knowing and working with her. We see each other at work every day, and it is clear to my mind that she walks in and with the Spirit of God. Read the poem above….Get to know Johnnie as I have personally, and who knows? Her conference may change your life! I know she has been an everyday encouragement for me. The details for her conference are listed as follows:

Another FREE Singles Conference hosted by Johnnie Edwards.

With special guest speakers and musical artists.

February 11, 2012, 11 am – 1 pm.

The Venue at The Bridge at Faith Chapel Christian Center

1000 Lexington Street

Birmingham, AL 35224

205-380-2990

* Please confirm attendance at: allthesingleladiesbham@gmail.com *

And guys, if your love life is lacking before Valentine’s Day, this could be a great way to meet a nice Christian gal! …..I am just saying if you are lacking in that department.

GREAT Leaders Make GREAT Decisions with GREAT Examples

Friday afternoon I got a phone call from a nonprofit executive here in Birmingham. I had been trying to connect with this certain individual for the last several weeks to further elaborate on my interest in his firm’s work…..an amazing organization! I have been quite sick recently and could not make our appointed meeting time; so I just left a note for him to call me on my cell phone if he had a spare minute. You see this man is about as busy in responsibility as anybody I know, but he still made it a priority to call me after hours on Friday afternoon because this is just the kind of person he is. Actions speak LOUD to me! I have been exposed to organizational bliss of people being treated as commodities. I have seen people come and go not only in my life but also in recent surrounding circumstances. You may have to excuse my vagueness. As an author, I must be careful about who and what I write about. You of course can respect such as the reader.

I HATE when people are treated like numbers. Simply we are all children of God and warrant the respect of being equals in His eyes. I think the leader that I mentioned above understands this fundamental truth in loving people. He does not see me or anyone else as some disposable entity as many corporations do in these economic times. That does not necessarily mean that someone can neglect their responsibilities in career choices and expect to keep a job. In this economic time, employment cuts are rampant, and individuals are seen as ledger balances more than people of equal measures. From what I hear on the news and from family and friends who have been laid off, some leaders recycle groups of people every few weeks without losing a wink of sleep. Replacement after replacement continues with a perpetual groove of never thinking twice about those who have bills to pay or mouths to feed. I firmly believe that great leaders try their best to make it work before great decisions for the better or worse are made…..it is those with poor examples of poor decisions that never consider such things. Great leaders must make hard decisions that often include laying off/firing people – I get that! But at least we could perhaps act as if it is a difficult thing to do. Men of no faith would perhaps act in such ways.

I believe there is a shortage of GREAT Men Making GREAT Decisions with GREAT Examples – hence all the fatherless in this country. Simply when things get hard, men and women bail. It is just so much easier to do that than own up to mistakes made with prevailing consequences. My generation must rise up with this blog entry mentality before this economy and country rips itself apart with every single person looking for a free hand out. In many countries, if you do not work, you do not eat. The Bible mentions this simple principle as well, that perhaps you reap what you sow.

I am fed up with leaders who just do not care about people, but I am grateful for the men who call me on a late Friday afternoon to remind that there still are men who set great examples with great decisions made in leadership. I am fortunate to know such individuals, but unfortunately in my rising generation, WE are few and far between. Therefore we must learn to stay the course from those who live under an Audience of One with Jesus to further and fully develop into such God characters with unwavering faith. We can then push and pray as great leaders do in overwhelming storms of adversity.